Tag Archives: Review of The Winter Blade by J.D. Begley

When an enemy kingdom launches a surprise attack against the Clanlands in the dead of winter, life becomes a race for survival against an overwhelming force. During the attack, an avalanche separates childhood friends Graven and Tevlin of Clan Mal from the rest of their Clan and each other, it begins for them a journey to reunite with their people and help to defend their homeland. Along the way they will be pursued by assassins, make new friends, form alliances, find love, and discover hidden truths about themselves.

My Rating: 4 Stars!

This book is a bit rough around the edges with some minor editing issues, but it was still a delightful story! It told a tale of two men, Graven and Tevlin, as they were stranded from their clan and were forced to travel through many lands and situations to be reunited with their people once again.

The plot was well conceived and the characters were well developed. Though there were some issues as I stated above, this book was a very enjoyable journey into the lives of the main characters of the story. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy! The imagination in the story was intriguing and the plot was fast paced and interesting after the first few chapters laid the groundwork of the things to come.

If you enjoy reading fantasy, magic and epic battle intrigues, this book is for you!

Interview with J.D.:

What prompted you to write your book?

I have been fascinated by fantasy and science fiction for almost as long as I can remember. When I was a young man, I wrote a few collaborative stories on a forum I was involved with. I was told what I wrote was very captivating. Shortly thereafter I swore to myself I would one day write a book. Time passed and living life happened, but the desire to write never left. One day fairly recently, I found myself with more free time than I liked. I decided this was the opportunity to fulfill the promise I made to myself. I sat down and I began writing.

Do you have a work in progress at the moment? What is it?

At the time I am writing this, I am working on the second book of this trilogy, continuing the story of Graven and his friends. Book three will come after, of course. After that I have an idea for a science fiction story I want to write, as well as other ideas I want to explore.

There are so many, it’s hard to pick. I’ll always have a fond spot for Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman with their Dragonlance series. I just loved there style of epic fantasy. I love David Eddings for the way his characters interact and have conversations. Steven King for obvious reasons. More recently Brandon Sanderson with his novel takes on how magic works in his worlds.

More favorites-food, color, place, activity?

I’m sort of an amateur foodie. I love trying new things, but also fall back on favorites, such as chili or lasagna. I love seafood if I can get it fairly fresh (not easy in Indiana).

For colors I tend to favor earth tones and dark colors. When I was young it was all black, all the time. Yes, I was sort of one of those kids. My favorite color now vacillates between green and blue.

What would you like your readers to know about you?

I have what has been described by others as a ‘dry’ sense of humor. This typically comes across as sarcasm. Despite this, I tend to deeply care about the people that are close to me. I’m a little socially awkward by default, but I am great at faking social skills if I want to, so you’ll never know it. I do love hearing from fans, even if currently there are only maybe two of you! So don’t be afraid to say ‘hi’ on Twitter or Facebook!

If you could give one piece of advice about life, what would it be?

If reasonable, pursue at least one of your dreams. It is better to at least have tried, than to regret never trying at all. You cannot succeed at all if you don’t try.